Conservatives sniff scandal, dump second volunteer in two days

BRAMPTON, Ont. – For the second day in a row, the Conservative campaign has lost a volunteer amid controversy.

That frustration led to Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s entourage announcing another election policy: for the duration of the campaign, it will no longer be taking questions about the party’s 308 local candidates.

That declaration came after Harper was confronted Wednesday with queries about a local Montreal organizer.

Harper was asked at a news conference why Giulio Maturi was working as campaign manager for a well-connected Tory candidate in the city.

The party had cut ties with this same organizer less than two years ago, after the Montreal mayoral candidate he used to work for made stunning allegations of kickbacks and cash-stuffed envelopes.

Maturi was never accused of any wrongdoing, but was connected to controversial construction magnate Tony Accurso. Two of Accurso’s companies were recently convicted of tax evasion.

“On that guy, I don’t know the details. They tell me he’s no longer a volunteer in our campaign,” Harper told reporters.

His director of communications Dimitri Soudas later told reporters that the national campaign would not be answering questions about the 308 local campaigns. Queries were directed to Everkelian’s office.

This was one day after Harper faced similar questions about an Edmonton volunteer who is the subject of an RCMP probe over interference with an Access to Information request.

But even as Harper held his news conference, Maturi’s name appeared on the website of Agop Evereklian, candidate in Pierrefonds-Dollard.

The opposition tried to make hay in the House of Commons with the revelation last year that Maturi had been organizing a fundraiser for Evereklian.

“In October 2009, the Conservatives claimed to have burned its bridges to Giulio Maturi, a political organizer with a checkered past. But we have learned that this individual is still involved with the Conservative Party,” Bloc MP Michel Guimond said last June.

“How can the prime minister’s political lieutenant explain the clandestine return of Mr. Maturi, a political organizer whose schemes have been condemned?”

The response at the time, from the government’s Quebec lieutenant Christian Paradis, reiterated that he was no longer an employee.

“Mr. Speaker, my colleague was telling the truth. Mr. Maturi has not been employed by the Conservative party since October 2009 or even earlier,” Paradis said.

A friend of Maturi’s, Tory Sen. Leo Housakos, had offered help to Vision Montreal candidate Benoit Labonte in the summer of 2008.

Soon after he came on board the Labonte campaign, Maturi came on board as executive director of the municipal party. He left the campaign in early 2009, and went on to work for the Conservatives in Montreal.

The Conservatives are hoping to break onto the island of Montreal this election. Their seats are concentrated around Quebec City and in more rural regions.